Why Don't I Always Feel God?

Intro:

Why don’t I feel the presence of God? Why do good things happen to bad people? Why am I here? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?

The scripture says if you will seek your Heavenly Father, you will find Him. And He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. So, oftentimes you feel so close to God, why is it at other times you feel like He’s so far away?

Today, we’re starting a brand new series. It is called, “Why?” Next week, we’ll deal with the topic, “Why does it seem like God doesn’t answer my prayers?” Everybody else prays, and their prayers seem to get answered, but often it feels like mine are hitting the ceiling. Today, though, we are going to deal with the question, “Why don’t I always feel the presence of God?" Now let's try this... how many of you would say that at some point in your life, you honestly believe you've felt the presence of God? Ok... so how you do you know? Some people would talk about goose bumps while others would say they cried. But we get those feelings when watching a movie or cutting onions. And for those of us who haven't felt God's presence in a while, who's fault it that? Is it His? Is it ours? Did God look down at us and say, "I'm going to reveal Myself to everyone else but you"?

We’re going to look today at some Biblical reasons as to why, perhaps, you are not experiencing the presence of God. Now these reasons are certainly not a complete list; it's just a few things I want to throw out because I've dealt with these things myself. Why don't I always feel God? Let’s talk about some possibilities.

Maybe you're oversensationalizing it. John 6:29-30
The first one is this: Maybe for you, like others, you occasionally are over sensationalizing it. Take a look at John 6:29-30. Notice how Jesus answers their question by pointing out that it's belief, not miracles, that's important. But they still kept pressing Jesus to "do a sign" to prove Himself to them. They didn't get it! Course, aren't we always demanding a sign from God? "God, if you want me to do this, then give me this sign..."

Now, let me say here that God can and does suprenatural acts, miraculous things that get our attention and let's us know He's real. And we can experience Him that way. The burning bush experience that Moses had can still happen today. But we can't fall into this trap that we must always "feel God." A charismatic jump with twirling ladies and people jumping pews, aka. Red Bull Church, has the same experiences with God that a traditional, formal, ARP or Methodist church. The end point being this - don't look for those outward signs and supernatural acts that prove God is or isn't working with you.

Maybe you haven't been obeedient. John 14:21
You might have some unfinished business with God. God showed you something that He wanted you to do and you haven't fulfilled what He called you to do. Look at John 14:21 where Jesus it talking. Notice this - He says, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them." And here's the cool part - we obey those commandments, that shows we love Him, and who loves Him is loved by the Father, and "I will show Myself to him."

He who obeys, Jesus reveals Himself to. If you disobey, you may miss out on some of the presence of Jesus. When God says do this, and we don't, then we lose some of that intimacy that we have with Him. Think about Moses. If Moses had said no when at the burning bush, I honestly believe he would have lost a great deal of intimacy with God. Because when we say no, when we disobey God, it's simply moving Him out of center stage and moving us into that place. We, the i am nots, try to become the I AM.

Maybe you've built a wall of sin. Isaiah 59:1-2
Just like you can build a wall between you and someone else here, you can build a wall between you and God. Isaiah says, "Your sins have hidden His face from you." So how do we build a wall of sin? Well, brick by brick, as we don't confess and turn away from our sins, we build that wall. And I'm not talking biggies either. Maybe you told a little bitty white lie earlier today - there's brick one. And then you were driving down the road and looked over at the car next to you, a really nice luxury one, and became a little envious of that person. You really wanted that car, no matter what it takes to get it. And then you drive down the road a little bit farther, someone cuts you off, and you start shouting "Holy Blessed Moses" at them. Brick after brick is being built here. Anger, greed, lust, and a whole host of other "little" sins that start stacking up into one big wall. And this wall cuts us off from God's presence. It cuts us off from that intimacy.

To tear the wall down is real simple - confess them and turn away from doing those things. The Word tells us that if we confess our sin, and turn from those ways, then God is faithful and just to forgive your sin.

Presence Promises. Jeremiah 29:13-14 , Matthew 18:20
Now, shifting gears for a moment, take a look at these verses. God promises His prsence to us through these. God's not trying to play some hide and seek game. For those that want Him, you will find Him. His presence is promised!

The New "WHY?" Series

New Series - "WHY?"

Ever wondered why you don't feel the presence of God when other people claim they do? Ever had an unanswered prayer? Wondered why God would love you? Or why He would let bad things happen to good people?

If you've ever wondered why...this may be just what you are looking for.

Your Vision & Purpose

Text: Proverbs 29:18 // Exodus 3

Intro:

So know vision is important. Remember the Frisbee fiasco thing from last week? Well, for sake of old memories, and for the laughs that are sure to follow, I'm going to bring it out again. I need yet again 2 people smart enough to take part in my surprises. So you on that side of the stage and you on the other side of the stage. Throw the Frisbee a couple of times to get used to it. Ok. Now I'm going to give each of you specific instructions. *Person A should throw the Frisbee so Person B can catch it; Person B should avoid catching the Frisbee at all costs.*

That's how vision and purpose work when it comes to the individual. Sometimes, our individual purposes don't line up with those around us, like in the case here, and we get nothing accomplished other than causing, lets call them issues and situations, around us. But when it comes to us a Christ followers, something beautiful happens. Our individual vision and purpose will line up with the community of Christ followers we're in, which in turn will line up with the vision and purpose of the overall Church. So do you remember the Church's vision and eXodus's vision? Check here and here for refreshing.

Remember Proverbs 29:18 tells us that vision is crucial. "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves." Without vision and purpose in your life, you're going to stumble all over yourself as well as others. So let's go back and look at Moses one more time.

Part I.

I'm sure Moses had everything planned out before he encountered that burning shrub. I'm sure he figured that he could live out the rest of his days as a shepherd, working for his father-in-law Jethro, taking care of wife and son. Kinda like you, like me, like us. He was just living life and wandering through the story. Moses even named his son Gershom, which means Sojourner, saying, "I am a sojourner in a foreign country."

And then God steps onto the stage and the story changes drastically.

Moses is out in the wilderness, watching some sheep, and then God's voice starts booming from a bush that's blazing away and calling his name. During that moment, God chose Moses and laid out His plan for freeing the Israelites from pharaoh. Failure was not an option. It was happening with or without Moses. But God had chosen him as a partner in this mission.

Immediately, the questions and doubts gushed out of his mouth. "A stuttering man like me? You want me to go to pharaoh? How? He'll kill me!"

Note that God didn't respond with a pep talk. He didn't send Moses to the Center for "You Can Do It" Training in an effort to boost his confidence. God didn't waste anytime - not one second - trying to pump Moses up for the task. He doesn't inflate Moses' self-esteem by filling him with a boatload of "Come on Moses, you can do this! I believe in you - you've just got to believe in yourself" encouragement.

Instead, God answers Moses with these life-shifting words: "I will be with you."

Part II.

"I will be with you." See, when God invites you into His Story, assigning us various roles that are seemingly too big for us to carry out, His affirmation is always the same - I will be with you. It's as if He was saying to Moses, "Don't worry about who you are, just focus on the reality that I'm going too. And if I go with you, trust Me, everything's going to work out fine."

Bottom line: God and anybody else is an overwhelmingly powerful team.

When it comes to our individual visions and purposes, it's not really about us at all. God holds center stage while we act as supporting actors. If you take Zazu out of the Lion King movie, the show can still go on. But what happens when Simba doesn't show up for curtain call? The show comes to a grounding halt. God doesn't need us in this story - He wants us in His Story.

And a lot of times, we take that to mean it doesn't even matter if we show up, if we we committ to a ministry, if we dedicate, sacrifice, and do whatever it takes to see the story through to the end. Imagine if Moses had only went halfway in his purpose; imagine if Moses stopped after the 3rd or 4th plague. I'm sure God would have still succeeded in getting the Israelites out but what would've happend to Moses?

You have a vision, a purpose, a calling on your life. God has specifically assigned you a role in this story, a task to perform. For some of you, it's being the link between the Church and your school. For others, you might be the next leader of a nation like Moses with the Israelites. And the cool thing is when God called you to do this, He knew you could do it. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites, not Jethro, not Aaron, not anyone else but Moses. Doesn't that speak volumes for how much faith God had in Moses? Moses wasn't even sure of himself but God redirected his attention to where it needed to be, not on his own lack of experience or qualification or skill but on to God's abundance of these things.

Close:

Some of you know your calling, what your role in this story is supposed to be. Don't let the fact that we're all supporting actors for the Main Actor deter you from throwing everything you have into your purpose, your calling. Don't go halfway and stop. Don't just show up sometimes when you're not tired or have some other excuse. Remember that you're God's partner in this and you're desire to bring glory to Him alone should propel you into diving deep into your individual calling.

Others of you have no clue yet as to what part of the story God has assigned you. Or you may have only the slimmest of ideas. Come find me, or Bro. Robert, or any of the other leaders. That's why we're here - to help you find out why you're here. Like Moses, you might think you have your life planned out and God's simply waiting to drop the bomb on what He wants you to be doing. Somewhere in your soul, I think each of us knows the direction God wants us to be heading. Find one of us leaders so we can help you find where and what you're supposed to be doing on the stage of life.

For all of us, never cease in throwing yourself into God and His Kingdom here on earth. Later in that chapter in Exodus, God tell's Moses what to call Him, His Name. And it was "I AM." I AM the center of everything. I AM running the show. I AM more than enough. I AM.

And this let's us know what we're not. I AM NOT the center of everything. I AM NOT in control. I AM NOT the solution. I AM NOT calling the shots. I AM NOT.

He's I AM and we're i am not. But the great I AM chooses us to be His partners. How cool is that...

Our Vision - What and Why

Text: Proverbs 29:18 // Exodus 3



Intro:

How many of you would say that vision is kinda important? I mean, let's try a test. I need two people to come up here. One you stand here and the other stand over there about 10 feet from us. Now here's a frisbee. I want you both to toss it back and forth. Try it out... pretty easy right? Now let's take away the vision part and see what happens. Kinda poor results that time around but at least no one died or got hit...

Our vision is pretty important to get through life. Now, it's not absolutely critical and there are lots of people even here in Fayetteville that excel at life despite poor or non-existent eye sight. I mean, I'm really blind without my glasses but can fumble my way to the bathroom at 2 AM without them and only hit the dog once or twice. But it's a heck of a lot easier when I can see clearly where I'm going.

Proverbs 29:18 tells us that vision is crucial when it comes to the Church. "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves." Think about that - when we have no clue what God has set before us to do, we just stumble all over ourselves. Solomon kinda nailed that one on the head didn't he? When we get our lifes completely wrapped up in ourselves, we forget that God is the centerstage of this thing called life. And that He did call us and give us a mission, a dream, a vision to accomplish while we can.

Remember last time how we look at the vision of the Church - to go and make disciples, to train Christ followers? This time we're going to take a look at the community we have here at eXodus and the vision God's called us to. But first, lets look at a guy in a situation similiar to us.




Part I:

At the end of Exodus chapter 2, we find the king of Egypt dead and the Israelites, God's people, cying our for relief from their slavery. The Word tells us they were groaning under their chains. And God heard their cries, saw what was going on with Israel, and it says simply "God understood." Now on a side note, isn't that awesome how God not only saw but understood what was going on with Israel? That God sees the current state of Fayetteville, of America, of the world, and understands something must change?

So from God's point of view, you're people are in chains in Egypt yet you have a redemption plan, a deliverance mission, and you're looking for a spokesman to take your agenda to the most powerful man in the most powerful empire on Earth; who do you choose? And how do you train them? And then He notices this stuttering shepherd with little to no self-esteem on the downslope of life who for years had been on the run from the one man you need him to talk to. That's right... you guessed it... God chose Moses. And that bush starts shooting up flames.

Now that He had Mose's undivided attention, God laid out His vision, His plan. "I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them and bring them into a good and spacious land. The cry of the Israelites has reached Me and I have seen the way the Egyptions are oppressing them." Notice all the first-person pronouns... the I thing? God's mind was set. His plan was in motion. Failure was not an option. God had sized up Pharaoh and decided to use him as a pawn in His story. The redemption mission would go on as planned. Mark it down - it was going to happen.

And then, without taking a breath, God added, "So now Go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of bondage." Wow.. so all of a sudden, the first-person God is going to do something amazing through someone else, someone small, someone as in Moses. The I and Me evaporate and become marching orders for Moses: "Now you go." As if God was saying, "I am going to do this with or without you Moses but I've been searching for just the right partner, a regular guy who will believe that I am able to do exactly what I have said I will do. You just need to get on board with My plan and watch Me go. Don't deviate from the course; trust Me, follow Me, without fear of any man. This is going to be amazing! Oh, I could do it all by Myself but I'm choosing to use a human vessel. And I'm choosing you Moses so GO!"




Part II:

Just like God chose Moses, a regular guy, who turned out to be just the right partner for this mission, God chose us here at eXodus to do something amazing. The things we're going to finish talking about are huge things but that's because we believe that God is a huge God with huge plans for us. He's going to do it with or without us but for me, for every leader here, we are excited that He wants to use us, mere flesh and blood, to bring these things into reality. You know how things turned out for Israel and Egypt - simply put, God + anybody else = an overwhelmingly powerful team.

So let's talk about the vision here for eXodus. Remember, just like it took time for Israel to reach the promised land, especially after having to spend 40 years in the desert, these things will take time, dedication, and God to bring these dreams into reality.

Our Core Vision for Exodus is to see God transform us into a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope. See 1 Corinthians 13:13. So let's break that one down a little bit.

First, we want to see God transform us into a community of followers of Jesus Christ. One where we act as a community, relying on each other, supporting each other, helping each other. Life isn't something we can get through alone - there are no individuals as a solitary island. Second, we are committed to live by faith. No matter what we go through, no matter how fortified the city or large the opposing forces, we live by faith that God will enable us to go where He's told us to go. Third, to be known by love. To actually show the love of God through our actions each and every day from serving in soup kitchens to shipping water to hurricane victims. And last, to be a voice of hope. Fayetteville desparately needs a voice of hope, that single solitary cry that it can and will get better. We need to be that voice of hope.

This is the Core Vision of Exodus - the one that serves as a foundation and guideline for our direction. The rest of our vision falls under that core.

We envision a place where faith, love, and hope take priority in our lives.

We envision a place where the hurting, the lonely, the confused, and the depressed can find love, hope, forgiveness, guidance, and encouragement.

We envision spreading God's Saving Message throughout the Middle Tennessee area.

We envision training and developing Christ Followers for frontline Kingdom work.

We envision sending out leaders into the domestic and foreign mission fields.

We envision focusing on the individual with the belief that one changed life can impact another and ripple outwards.

We envision building a training center with facilities including a worship center, a counseling and prayer center, classrooms for training, housing for those that need it, and a resource center.

We envision starting "mini-gatherings" in local communities that will serve as life groups.

We envision creating "change agents" throughout the community that possesses wisdom, understanding, and training to have the maximum impact in the community and the Church.

Closing:

I know these things seem like a lot. Even overwhelming at times. But imagine how Moses felt standing before that bush, feeling the spirit of God on that mountain side, seeing the flames leap higher and higher without consuming the bush itself, all the while knowing that God had just chosen him to face the one man he'd been running from for large portion of his life. Knowing that he was to be the Creator's spokesman even though he stuttered to now end. He must have felt overwhelmed by this mission, this vision that God had just laid out for him.

We all know what it's like out there beyond these four walls. That's why God has chosen us to be His spokesman (and spokeswomen). That's why we're chosen to be agents of change throughout our lives. That's why we've been brought together as a community of Christ followers, one that is committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be that voice of hope in the wilderness. This is the mission, the vision, for us here at eXodus.

Vision Series

For the next few weeks, we're going to be looking at vision, purpose, direction, identity. We see in Matthew 28 how the Church has one mission - go and make disciples, Christ Followers.

But we fit into this bigger picture differently; each of us has a unique, specific purpose. Like a mosaic, we all fit in differently to the bigger image.

You have a specific vision, dream, and purpose for this life.

Let's find it!

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